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Jagdeo says gas strategy is just a “discussion paper”
– tells media to ask Minister Bharrat for cost and name of consultant
– Did not seek input from Qatar, other bilateral partners
Kaieteur News – Days after government published a draft of its much-anticipated National Gas Monetisation Strategy for public consultation – Guyana’s Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo during his press conference on Thursday conceded that there are several known issues with the strategy before labeling the document as a “discussion paper.”
The 43-page document was published on Monday by the Ministry of Natural Resources. Citizens have until November 14, to submit their feedback on the document. The strategy was anticipated to serve as a roadmap for managing Guyana’s substantial gas resources, but a closer analysis reveals it lacks clear, actionable steps for gas monetization. Jagdeo, who previously expressed enthusiasm about the strategy, said during his press conference: “we know there are several issues there that we ourselves in the government may have issues with, but it’s a good discussion paper in the public domain.”
He said too: “we have put out the draft discussion paper on the gas strategy, we have put out a disclaimer too at the bottom, when we posted that the government did not have its detailed input into this document as yet.”
Vice President (VP), Bharrat Jagdeo
To this end, the VP encouraged citizens to submit their views on the draft document, before it is finalised. “So if you don’t believe we have enough gas there and we shouldn’t pursue it tell us so, if you believe that there shouldn’t be a lot of concessions to develop these then say so now, but justify it of course,” he noted.
Jagdeo explained that the oil companies will also have to submit their input on the draft document. He underscored, “Internally, we have our own ideas about what we want, the idea as the paper suggests is how do we monetize our gas resource, so we would have to look through all the challenges, like associated gas, how we can convert associated gas…ammonia, LNG (liquefied natural gas). All of these things are explored in the document but it’s a discussion paper more than a finished strategy from the government which it puts in the public domain.”
Notably, Jagdeo said that government will have to go through the comments and then incorporate the comments and probably do a short consultation before the document is finalise.
During a question-and-answer session, a journalist criticized the draft for lacking substance, to which Jagdeo reiterated its status as a discussion paper. Jagdeo said, “As I say it’s more of a discussion paper because we already started getting feedbacks on where the gas is, so we appreciate that, that is why we put it out early because to do an internal rework would have taken a while which has to happen but we can benefit from the public view too as we do the internal rework so both can be done simultaneously.”
Regarding the involvement of bilateral partners like Qatar with experience in gas monetization, Jagdeo expressed uncertainty about Qatar’s role in producing the draft document but recognized the potential for Qatar to assist Guyana in monetizing its gas resources.
Further, the Vice President was asked to name the consultants that the government used to produce the document and the cost to prepare it. In response, he said that the question should be directed to the Ministry of Natural Resources, which is headed by Vickram Bharrat, who would have the information about the name of the consultants as well and the cost.
Notably, following a trip to South Asia in March 2023, at a press conference, the Vice President had said that the government is acquiring consultants from India and other places to work with them on creating the national gas strategy.
Guyana is actively pursuing the use of natural gas in the Liza One and Liza Two fields for the Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project. ExxonMobil Guyana will fund a 12-inch pipeline for transporting the resource to Wales, where a Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) plant will treat and separate the gas for use in the power plant. The power plant aims to generate 300 megawatts of electricity for the national grid and produce products like cooking gas for sale, aligning with the administration’s goal of energy self-sufficiency. Despite some expert concerns about the project’s nearly US$2 billion cost, the government remains resolute about its viability.
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